Time to Think
by xxSterre
Summary: Post 3x07 Total Captain Swan. Emma assessing the situation and begrudgingly admitting she might want to do something about the looming love triangle before it turns into a very public battle for her affections in Storybrooke. ONE SHOT


**Didn't reread it or anything, so I apologize for all the mistakes that are in here.**

**Dis: I do not own anything or anyone from OUAT. if I did, the ship of CS had long set sail in Season 2. **

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She knew it hurt him when she referred to him as a pirate, even though he obviously reveled in the fact he kept surprising her. However, she also knew that his actions no longer really were a surprise to her; she knew that saying he was just a pirate was a lie. But she couldn't deal with the consequences of acknowledging his 'good form' as he called it. She wished she could share his faith in her, but she was scared. Scared of losing Henry for good, scared of Neal hurting her all over again, scared of Him. Scared what he could or maybe already did mean to her.

She hated him for calling her out on everything, time after time, letting her know he believed in her decisions, yet forcing her to make them in the first place. So different from Neal, Hook was not even apologizing for his behavior, whereas Neal was obviously trying to get her in good graces.

She didn't want to admit it, but she had screamed out for Hook in Dark Hollow, not Neal, although for a second the same fate was bestowed upon him as well. She couldn't think about what had happened there, not yet. She probably wouldn't ever, to be honest. By vastly ignoring it all, the tension would hopefully disappear, just like the feelings.

Although Emma was old enough to know that such a scenario never happened in reality, she stubbornly let herself believe she'd deal with everything back in Storybrooke. When everything calmed down. Only she knew things wouldn't calm down.

Hook and Neal wouldn't go back on their promises, they'd fight for her until she would make a choice.

A choice that she had probably already made, albeit unconsciously. The way he convinced her of anything, how he didn't lie, how he'd put her needs above his own time and time again. How this was the only relationship she had destructed yet he kept coming back. How he understood her without her having to explain, yet she felt there was so much she didn't know about him. And she wanted to, god how she wanted to understand him. She wanted to know his history, share his burden; it bothered her that her father apparently knew more of him than she did.

It surprised her how he put his faith in her, never doubting her once and how he helped her believe too. He was confident and he pushed her, always a bit too far yet never actually so far she wouldn't have a choice. It surprised how she was always scrambling to pinpoint him to a certain type of people and she was never right. Although deep down she wanted to pinpoint him to that group of people she could trust, which was a lonely group to say the least.

She believed his judgment, and how much she told herself that it was due to his affiliation with the island, she knew it was more than that. She believed him, because he had stayed. He had sacrifices himself for her and she had never known anyone doing that for her.

She was sure that if Neal hadn't interrupted, the one-time thing had turned into a two-time thing. And she was sure that Hook knew it too. Yet she felt like he also knew she wasn't ready for anything that would come out of it. So he let her do the choosing, he just merely offered a bait, a chance, just like with every innuendo, he offered her an escape, an exit that she desperately wanted out of every emotional situation.

But she wasn't sure if she wanted that escape anymore, he'd slowly begun challenging her by speaking her thoughts, by debating her feelings and by slowly revealing himself, and she knew she had to do something. Although he seemed genuinely convinced that he would win her heart, she could see a hint of doubt and fear in his eyes. She recognized it.

Because putting your heart on the line for someone else meant being vulnerable, it meant serving yourself on a silver platter knowing you could be crushed. And yet he didn't mind her doing that. With every hurtful comment about him being a pirate, with every look she gave Neal, with every second that she felt guilty of thinking about him and how he'd almost been killed by the shadow instead of thinking about Henry.

He didn't mind being second, or third, as long as he got her to admit some of her feelings. Because in that, his perseverance had been right. She did have feelings for the former pirate. And as she looked up from her lap to gaze around the camp they'd set up, she made a decision. She wasn't going to let her past define her. She was stronger than that, yes she did have scars and she hated Hook for seeing them, but she would ask for his scars in return. If he wanted her to choose, he should give her more than his present, he would have to yield and show her his past.

And she knew, as she lifted her own gaze to meet his on the other side of the encampment, his eyes already settled on her, that al she had to was ask.

"_As you wish"_


End file.
